From One Honda To Another – Somewhere Out In The Middle Of Montana
Well, I did it. Instead of continuing the journey this year on a Harley Ultra Limited I decided while in Needles, California (121 degrees!!) to continue this year in a roadster. A very special roadster. A 2002 Honda S2000. Yah, an AP1 that revs to 9K. Oh yea!! I was honestly looking for a Ultra Limited on my stopover in Needles and by chance ran across this one owner, babied S2000. I’ve owned many roadsters in my life, MG’s, Midgets, Spitfires, Vettes, Fiats, Kharmen Ghia’s, Wranglers but I have always had a soft spot for MGB’s. The late 60’s to mid 70’s MGBs. Whoa!!!!! There are no words to describe them. Especially the MG Midget, that was just an insane car.
With roadster memories stirring in my head I motored on down to Temecula and picked up the S2000 for the 2016 journey.
The S2000 is a pretty rare car, the S2K forum estimates only about 40,000 of them are left in the USA. I can vouch for that. Since leaving Temecula I have seen just 3 of them on the road. I started playing a daily game while driving. Count the other S2000’s, count the other roadsters of any make and count the motorcycles. Roadsters are a rare breed I’ll tell ya! So many more motorcycles I see daily than roadsters. Some days I see no roadsters, some days one or two. The S2000’s are few and far between. While in Billings, Montana I saw this yellow one in a parking lot. The local Honda dealer said he knows of 3 S2000’s in the Billings area. Rare as a hen’s tooth!!!!
There’s something about a roadster (in much the same way as a motorcycle) that simply cannot be explained. In many ways it’s as if you are flying a biplane a few feet above the ground. An old Stearman or a Travelair.
I was watching a video about the head engineer that designed the S2000. He said it’s not a car, it’s an experience. I cannot agree more.
The Value Of Life Can Be Measured By How Many Times Your Soul Has Been Deeply Stirred.
I love this quote. How many times in your life has your soul been deeply stirred? I mean DEEP! Beyond words deep. Can’t explain it deep. Words pale deep. The Place Where There Are No Words deep.
A long time ago when I was going through a lot of challenges in my life and my business I met by chance a most interesting character after my vehicle broke down. He gave me a ride to a gas station and on the way somehow the conversation got around to what we do for a living. He mentioned to me a few years before he was homeless living in a van near Malibu, California. But even though he lived in his van he had a burning desire inside, he wanted to create a new product in the hair care field. That’s all he ever thought about he said. Even as he lived on pork and beans in his van. Flash forward a few years, this homeless man was sitting next to me driving a Mercedes. He said it was rough but he never ever gave up. One day he said he met someone who believed in him and offered him the opportunity to develop his idea. Even though he was homeless he was schooled as a chemist. Funny eh? A fully trained chemist living the homeless life in Malibu. He said all it took was one good idea and his life took off. His products were picked up by salons all over the US and Europe. He became a multi-millionaire within a few years from the hair care products and bumped into me on Sunset Blvd in Pacific Palisades. I still remember his story to this day and wonder where he is now. He was definitely stirred by something. A deep, all-consuming burning desire. It drove him, it consumed him, he thought about it all the time and one day, in ways he could never imagine, his dream came true.
L
Somewhere In Montana
“Something is about to happen. Something very wonderful.”
